


Gonna Use My, My, My Imagination

by DanielleItLouderNow



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:49:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21676294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanielleItLouderNow/pseuds/DanielleItLouderNow
Summary: "Because I Prayed this Word: I Want"--SapphoEmily convinces JJ to spend some time outside of the office, but let's be honest, it doesn't take much convincing.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 23
Kudos: 127





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This keeps getting longer and longer, so I'm just gonna break it up into chapters, k?
> 
> Give me your thoughts, all.
> 
> Cheers

Karaoke.

What a stupid fucking idea.

Sure, it was... fun. Enough, anyway.

And it wasn't like JJ couldn't spit out Eminem lyrics with a fire that no one expected from a backwater Pennsylvanian white girl. But that was usually in the car where there were no witnesses, save Michael, who had unfortunately picked up the word " _fuck_ ," choosing to shout it very loudly with great pride at the most inopportune moments. 

Like this morning, when Will's mother had come to pick up the boys for their visit to New Orleans, her own son unable to make the trip to Virginia due to schedules and yet another hurricane wreaking havoc. 

He'd been enjoying pancakes in his highchair when he'd launched his fork across the kitchen and exclaimed " _oh, fuck_!" with great glee, while JJ's head hit the cupboard with a solid, resounding **thwack** , followed by a staccato of repeated thuds she's pretty sure were morse code for " _fuck my life_." Her ex-mother-in-law gasped, hand literally clutching her pearls, and stuttering out a " _my, what colorful language, young man. Bless your heart JJ. **Bless. Your. Heart**._"

She wasn't winning any parenting awards, that was for certain, nor any favors in the eye of Mrs. LaMontangue.

In the end, it was a culmination of exasperating events starting with Michael's prodigious proclamation and ending with Emily telling her she looked adorable with pancake batter in her hair and syrup smudges on her thighs ( _"#momlife? Did you really just say hashtag? I swear, if Twitter becomes real life, I'll eat my own Jimmy Choo's" Emily had chided_ ) that led JJ to agree to this asinine night out.

That, and Emily's promise of booze. Lots and lots of booze. And on Emily's dime, that possibility was practically limitless.


	2. Chapter 2

JJ had shown up to the office as per usual looking effortlessly gorgeous. Emily wasn't sure exactly how Jennifer managed the flowing beach waved hair or the perfect eyeliner with just the slightest hint of shadow, but she was both in awe and envious. But Emily could still see gray of well hidden bags beneath stormy blue eyes, the slight lines around thinned lips, the tightness of a jaw here and the faint drooping of shoulders there. Emily recognized the look immediately, having worn it herself on many occasions. It was not a look of merely exhaustion, but complete and utter defeat. It was not a look she used to seeing on the blonde. Between that and the remnants of breakfast food marring the otherwise all encompassing sleekness associated with one Jennifer Jareau, Emily felt a night out and conversation was necessary. Thankfully, Penelope had already given her the perfect opportunity. After firing off a quick email, Emily soon found herself immersed in paperwork, killers, consultations, and phone calls, with the end of the day arriving before she'd even really gotten started.

* * *

JJ was nearly out of the office before she'd remembered Emily's email, requesting to see her by the end of the day. She tried not to show her irritation at being summoned into the older woman's office, but it was a poor disguise at best.

"Em, if you're about to go boss on me, I swear--," JJ ranted, walking through the door. She was stopped short though, by what greeted her inside.

Emily had shed her suit jacket for the evening as well as the button up she'd been wearing, leaving her in only a very form fitting black tank top. That wasn't what had surprised the blonde though, not really. No, the **real** surprise was Emily, rising one armed up from the floor into a perfect pushup, the other arm quickly coming around from behind her back to shush JJ before pointing at the bluetooth in her ear, only to switch arms and begin performing more pushups.

" _Et je vais avoir les fichier par matin?...Oui, mon matin vous merde..._ "

There was always something when JJ heard Emily speaking a foreign language that had always given her pause, made her stop and listen to that multilingual, extraordinarily talented tongue. Of course, _that_ particular part was just in JJ's imagination, but plenty of masturbatory fantasies of hers involved Emily speaking French between her legs.

" _merci. Je vais les passer en revue et de vous appeler lundi...non, je ne suis pas un paresseux American..._ "

JJ crossed over to Emily's desk and perched on the edge, watching Emily's muscles move fluidly beneath her tank top. Plenty of JJ's fantasies also included what Emily could _do_ with those muscles. She'd certainly seen her take down a fair share of unsubs in their time at the BAU, as well as been both victim to and saved by their power. 

Explosions where Emily shielded her with her own body. Times when she'd shoved Jennifer out of the way of a bullet, only to have it slam into her own vest, pulling the trigger for a kill shot and exclaiming 'I hate that,' while lowering herself to the ground. JJ was never sure if she meant taking bullets or killing, but she never asked and wasn't certain she wanted an answer. It would cause her to examine herself, her boss, and her team too closely and she wasn't ready for _those_ answers.

Emily gave a soft grunt and JJ became entranced by her muscles once more, reflecting on the rooftop after she'd been abducted by Hastings and Askari, nearly plummeting to her death save for Emily's sheer strength pulling her back. JJ was never sure if she'd ever properly thanked Emily for that, but it did cause one more puzzle piece to slip into place and give her doubt when she'd said goodbye with her husband who she was certain wasn't nearly as impressed by the brunette as she was.

" _Vous avez de la chance je vous aime. Nous allons parler bientôt...Au revoir._ "

JJ had realized she'd began biting her lip and had to shake herself from her daze before Emily could take note. The older woman stood from the floor and retrieved a water bottle and towel from somewhere nearby. JJ wasn't really certain of where, given her distraction of Emily's pale skin, slightly flushed and covered with a light sheen of sweat. JJ wondered what that skin would taste like and felt heat rise to her own cheeks.

"Are you okay? You look flushed..." JJ couldn't help but blush harder at Emily's question, turning away to avoid further scrutiny.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she squeaked out, clearing her throat before continuing. "All I caught of that call was ' _shit_ ,' ' _I love you_ ,' and ' _goodbye_.' International espionage or secret boyfriend?" JJ asked, brow arched in challenge. She watched a smile break out on Emily's face and felt a matching one slide across her own lips.

"My international espionage days are over, thank you very much, and there's no secret boyfriend. An old colleague and friend of mine, Appoline de Rosier requested I consult on some unfinished cases from my time at Interpol. All very drab, I assure you."

"Ooookaayy," JJ blew out on a breath, lingering on the ' _I love you_ ' she'd overheard. "You wanted to see me?"

"Oh," Emily began, uncharacteristically nervous as she spun the water bottle in her hands. "I, uh, how are you?" She sputtered, finally daring to meet JJ's eyes. "I mean with the boys and--," she'd started to say _Will_ , but JJ held up a hand, interrupting her.

"I'm fine. Everything's great, yeah it's," her shoulders slumped slightly as she brought her hand up to her face, trying with all her might to just stave off the pressure building behind her eyes. "Who am I kidding," she sighed, "everything's a fucking nightmare. Henry is trying to be understanding, but he's acting out and Michael says ' _fuck_ ' more than I do, not to mention he just happened to shout it in front of Will's mother this morning when she came to get the boys and I've already missed _three_ phone calls from Will and I just know--"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, Jayje," she stopped mid sentence feeling the arms of the older woman wrap around her. "I'm hearing that you're overwhelmed, a lot stressed, and maybe that we should implement a swear jar around the office."

JJ let out a bark of a laugh before turning slightly to assess Emily. "Fine! But _you_ and _Rossi_ have to use it, too!" The older woman opened her mouth to protest but JJ pressed a finger to her lips. "Nuh-uh! I _know_ Rossi grumbles in Italian, and _**you**_ , _Miss I-Know-Eight-Languages_ are **not** allowed to pretend you don't swear in _each_ and _every_ one of them!"

Emily pursed her lips and pretended to think about it before giving a slight shrug, a winning smile plastered to lips, before both women howled with laughter.

JJ planted a small kiss on Emily's cheek before resting her head on her shoulder while Emily tried really hard to control the burning she felt climbing up her neck. 

"How is it you always know exactly what I need, Em?" JJ breathed.

"Oh!" Having lost herself in the feeling of Jennifer in her arms, Emily had nearly forgotten why she'd requested the blonde's presence in the first place. Leaning back, she pretended not to notice the small sound of disappointment coming from JJ nor her own desire to pull the woman back into herself, immediately missing the contact. "I, umm, I wanted to ask. It's the weekend, and the I know the boys are with Will, and, well, Pen was planning this thing and I was wondering if you'd want to go then hang out at my place after? Maybe demolish a pint or two of icecream? Watch a movie?"

It took a lot to rattle the unshakable Emily Prentiss, but JJ thought it was absolutely adorable how nervous she seemed in this moment. And of course, it had been a while since the two of them had hung out. Besides, what did she have at home besides an empty house and an even emptier bed, too much quiet, and a whole lotta mess. The boys were gone for **two weeks** and she could do _plenty_ of moping. **Later**. But for now, a weekend with Emily sounded like _exactly_ what she needed, if only for a small bit of sanity before reality hit again on Monday.

"I'd love that, Em." JJ offered then began walking to the doorway before throwing her thumb over shoulder. "I'll see you at your place, then? Are you almost out of here?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah, just let yourself in. And Jayje?" JJ had just turned to leave but stuck her head back in the doorway when she heard Emily. "You _really do_ look _absolutely adorable_ with pancake batter in your hair."

JJ turned and offered the brunette a one finger salute, hoping her burning cheeks weren't as noticeable as they felt while she nearly bolted down the hall, followed only by the sound of Emily's laughter.


	3. Chapter 3

The drive home was relatively uneventful, thankfully. Traffic in DC was always unpredictable, and if JJ had her way, she'd arrest people based solely on their poor driving, cops in particular. She'd never seen such abuse of power until the day she'd attempted to return to a scene one day, fresh faced from the academy and still optimistic, when crossing the street after dealing with a mess of press she'd been nearly struck by a local LEO failing to stop or yield who'd blared his horn and yelled choice words out the window. JJ, however, very calmly, and much to Hotch's amusement, simply walked over to the police cruiser, slapped her badge on the windshield, and had the officer cuffed and sitting petulantly, waiting in the back of his own cruiser while the team finished at the scene until Jennifer could personally drive him back to the precinct and march him into the police chief's office.

That had earned her an official complaint about abuse of power and a not-so-stern talking to from Hotch that was mostly made up of barely concealed laughter and an ending statement of _excellent work, Jareau._

It was little known fact outside of her children and the BAU Jennifer Jareau secretly had an explosive temper, likened to a stick dynamite with the world's shortest fuse.

Aside from a rather abruptly ended phone call with Will that left JJ nostalgic for the days of flip phones (angrily tapping end was not the same, **dammit!** ), she had made the trip in relatively good time and better temperament. 

Maybe it was simply the plan of being able to spend time with Emily outside of the office. It really had been far too long since she'd just enjoyed the company of someone who didn't need their shoes tied for them, ex husband included, and even longer since she'd been in the company of one Emily Prentiss.

_Shit_.

Jennifer hadn't really been alone with Emily in any capacity outside of work, and even in those instances at work, teaming up, sharing hotel rooms, all of that, there was always _something_ to keep a modicum of professionalism between the two.

But now...

Now JJ was going to be alone with Emily for the first time in years.

Emily. Beautiful, glamorous, enigmatic Emily.

Her best friend.

Her attractive best friend.

Her _very_ attractive best friend that she'd wanted from the very first time she'd seen those gorgeous, dark eyes, that warm, dazzling smile, and heard that deep, melodious voice, and _that goddamn crooked belt buckle._ Yep. Jennifer had been well and truly fucked, always hoping, always shy, and always, always, always never brave enough to close that distance, to make that leap.

_Shit, shit, fuck!_

By the time JJ unknowingly reached her bedroom, flopping face-first into her collection of pillows, the panic had fully set in.

Allowing herself to a moment to be childish, she thrashed and kicked around, tossing her head side to side with a loud groan, catching sight of the time in the process. Her blue eyes widened, reading 1832 glaring at her in sharp, red font.

Whatever Penelope had planned started at 8:30 and it was still half an hour to Emily's.

_Get on your shit,_ _Jareau_ , she thought with no small amount of self ridicule.

She had long since washed the errant pancake batter from her hair, so aside from smelling reminiscent of utilitarian soap, her hair was still clean and still beautifully waved, regardless from the amount of times she'd ran her hands through it in frustration.

Make up was always quick as she tended to opt for a natural look, but she relined her eyes, added a quick coat of mascara, and added some darker brown to give herself a smokey eye look, noting with a smirk her blue eyes darkened and became even more captivating with the slight change.

That sorted, a quick trip to her closet met her with a nice pair of dark jeans that rode low on her hips hugged her ass in a delicious way and marbled, three quarter sleeve henley that showed made her skin glow more than normal and clinging tight to her abs. She worked hard for those, dammit, and she wanted to see somebody (ok, _Emily_ ), drool over them.

Tucking her 9mm glock 17 in the holster in the back of her jeans, JJ cast a wary glance at the clock and bolted out the door before she had time to reconsider.

* * *

It was roughly a quarter to eight when JJ let herself in to Emily's condo, disarming the security system as she went, dropping her go bag next to Emily's by the door, badge on the table in the entryway, keys in the bowl, gun locked away in the safe. It was routine for her by now, from when she'd stayed over previously on girls nights and Emily had a similar ritual in JJ's house, the only difference being garage door openers were exchanged for parking security codes.

It never occurred to JJ that it should be odd that they had carved out this niche into one another's lives, that they each had spare clothes in each other's closets, toothbrushes in one another's bathrooms, and their favorite food in the others fridge. It was just...easy.

Though it wasn't like Spence had these items at JJ's house, or Derek took up this amount of space at Emily's before he left the BAU. In fact, it seemed they _only_ took up that space in each other's lives, a point of contention with Will on a number of occasions.

JJ caught herself spiraling and rather than focus on what was, she chose instead to focus on what is. She could hear soft music playing somewhere in Emily's home and allowed it to wrap around her. It sounded a lot like Melody Gardot, a guilty pleasure the blonde had never told Emily she'd secretly taken a liking to. JJ soon caught herself humming along to _Baby I'm A Fool_ and let herself get lost in the rich layers of sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you mjduncan for incorporating Melody Gardot into your JEmily fics, otherwise I would have never looked her up and fell absolutely in love with her music.
> 
> PS, for anyone reading this, you should check out both the music and the fics.


	4. Chapter 4

Emily had just left the veritable safety and comfort of a warm shower where she'd tried to literally wash her worries away and now stood wrapped in a towel staring into the depths of her closet.

It wasn't that she didn't have an abundance of things to wear, that wasn't really the problem. No. The problem was being comfortable enough to be a friend without coming across as too professional like a boss with being just sexy enough to attract the right attention and not every horndog in the bar.

And, if she were being entirely honest with herself, she wanted to see that look on Jennifer's face again: the one that said everything and nothing all at once. It was that look that caused in equal measure butterflies to rage in her stomach while lust burned her from the inside out, mingling with desire that left little question as to what she wanted.

There was that selfish part within herself that simply wanted to be wanted, noticed, desired. But only by Jennifer, and if not her, someone with the potential to warm her bed later.

Emily wasn't naive enough to assume anything would or even could happen with the blonde agent. Years of flirting and skirting had taught her that.

But it didn't mean that she couldn't look nice and enjoy the moment.

And it wasn't like she could _actually_ blame her nonexistent relationship woes solely on the blonde.

Her own attitude toward relationships was serial bachelorette at best, spinster cat lady at worst. In fact, JJ was the closest thing to a relationship she'd had since Doyle, Sergio aside.

And her spartan lifestyle had (mostly) suited her well.

No, her issues were purely self inflicted.

There had been a time when Emily would have welcomed the relationship and was fairly certain JJ would have, too, if their interactions were any indication. But Emily just could not relinquish her control of anything long enough to let one Jennifer Jareau out of her neat little compartment inside her mind and ultimately found herself pushing JJ into the arms of Will.

Not that Emily regretted that for a moment. JJ had two beautiful children, and William was a wonderful man, if not a little idealistic and dated in his thinking. But he never held Jennifer back, even if his opinions on the BAU, on _her_ , had never changed. And from what Emily understood, the divorce was amicable, even if the both of them argued over what would be best for the boys.

And Emily _had_ had her chance, woe as she was to admit it. At least, in a way. They had talked on the flight to Paris, confided in one another.

_"Now's as stupid a time as any," Emily began, rolling her eyes, "I'm in love with you." It was a simple confession, one that should have happened years ago, if only Emily had allowed herself that bit of vulnerability._

_JJ, for her part, wasn't even phased. "For what it's worth, and I'm sorry, I'm in love with you, too."_

But JJ had Will, had Henry, and Emily was dead. Even if JJ had been willing, Emily refused to ask her to abandon her life for a dead woman with no future and no guarantees. 

So she didn't. Instead, they held each other and cried. Cried for the _what ifs_ and the _why nots_ , the _if onlys_ and it was cathartic.

And when that fateful moment came at that cafe in Paris, Emily kissed JJ on the cheek, told her thank you, and walked away, pretending that it was raining and those were not, in fact, tears falling from her eyes.

After that moment, she promised herself to just let go. She recalled something she'd read in a Vonnegut novel once, _if the accident will_ , and she had lived by that thought for a while. It had led to some interesting and wonderful trysts while she'd been living undercover in Europe and had given her a freedom she'd never known upon returning to the BAU. At least until they'd hit too close to home talking about what her and Reid had experienced upon death, when Emily found herself once again clinging tightly to that Prentiss control, compartmentalizing everything, her freedom included.

The case with the piano man had justified her return to compartmentalization, especially after she had to face the fact that even with Doyle dead, even with all she did, ultimately, her ghosts still and always would find her, always would haunt her, and she found herself withdrawing, just the smallest amount.

What had actually solidified everything was exactly one conversation during the whole bank disaster. It wasn't with Jennifer, either, but with Will.

_"She loves you, you know," he'd said, calm, even with explosives strapped to his chest._

_"Yeah," Emily huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes, trying to recall_ exactly _what Morgan had told her about this particular explosive. "We're family. We love each other."_

_Will just shook his head. "That's not what I mean, Em, and we both know it."_

_Rather than answer, Emily pursed her lips and kept working to defuse the bomb attached to one Will LaMontangue._

_"And I'm okay with that," he went on. "If I die here today, I know she has you, and you love that woman just as much, if not more, than I do."_

_That gave Emily pause. Her face must have said so, too, given that Will gave a slight chuckle._

_"A blind person could see it, Em. And Henry loves you just as much. But please don't let them forget I love them too."_

_Maybe that offer didn't seem so far fetched. Maybe she'd overstayed her welcome. At any rate, it didn't feel right to stay and be a complication_

_"Shut the fuck up, Will," she'd laughed, when she finally, finally succeeded and the timer froze, angry, red, and still. "Now go get your woman."_

Emily let out a frustrated sigh and finished the remainder of her double scotch, cursing herself for leaving the drink and its condensation on her nightstand. Purple heart wood was expensive enough, let alone custom purple heart wood furniture.

_But what does expense matter when there's no one to share anything with?_ The thought was bitter, and she knew it, but it came anyway.

Having resolved nothing in the way of clothing and caring very little about it at the moment, Emily ventured downstairs in her towel to refill her scotch, still stuck in her own head.

Pouring herself a generous amount over the remaining ice and finishing it just as quickly, Emily plunked her tumbler down on the counter top and jumped at the surprised yelp she'd heard coming from behind her.

In all her brooding, she'd nearly forgotten that she'd told JJ to let herself in, forgotten even that she was coming over, why she was even brooding in the first place.

And sweet fucking jesus, _**Jennifer**_ was in her living room.

_FUCK!_


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Emily Prentiss was a collection of conundrums.

She had an uncanny ability to remain aloof and professional even during the most stressful of circumstances while still being warm and reassuring towards her team.

She was able to be both stern and fair, often times in the same sentence.

Aside from being proficient in several languages, cultures, and behaviors, Emily was shit at cooking, a fact that never failed to amuse JJ. In fact, Emily's lack of skills in the kitchen were so profound, she subsisted mainly on coffee, takeout, and French truffles, never seeming to gain an ounce, much to JJ's chagrin.

And contrary to what many may think, Emily Prentiss did in fact feel things, sometimes moreso than anyone else.

But if JJ had thought for one second that any of this information would have prepared her for the day she unwittingly met a naked, freshly showered, mussy haired, flush skinned, _clad-only-in-a-towel_ Emily Prentiss, she was sorely mistaken.

JJ felt like she had swallowed her own tongue.

And it wasn't like this was the first time they had encountered one another like this.

It had happened on several occasions, several cases. Even several moments had occurred when Emily had stripped JJ bare, rid herself of clothing, and pulled her into a scalding shower to clean the blood of some victim or other from Jennifer when she found herself drawing deep into herself. Those were the rougher days that started with Tobias Hankel and Reid's kidnapping, that became harder when Emily died, that only got worse with her own kidnapping and torture. The days when Will simply gave up and JJ couldn't escape from the dark recesses of her own mind.

Those were the days when Emily gave her a light to turn to.

But this it was the first time it had felt like.. _.this_.

This moment was tinged with longing, with hunger, with just the slightest bit of mystery. Intimacy.

JJ could easily imagine what would happen if she crossed to the kitchen, if she pressed her lips to that perfect patch of skin below Prentiss' jaw where she could see her pulse spike, if she ripped that towel away and allowed herself to finally feel Emily, finally see her, taste her.

JJ recognized the shiver that ran through her body, recognized the shallowness of her own breathing, the heat coiling low in her belly. She felt the almost feral, possessive growl that threatened to spill from her lips that she only just managed to quell by sinking her teeth just a little too hard into her bottom lip, replaying thoughts of Emily's teeth replacing her own.

She wasn't ready to face that yet, and Emily, thankfully, still had her back turned. JJ had only just managed to throw herself on Emily's couch, muffling a lustful groan into one of the cushions, but it was too much to hope that the older woman had simply missed the sound.

No. Instead, Emily had turned around, surprised by what she didn't see.

"Jayje?" Maybe she'd imagined the blonde's presence and she had simply been feeding lust addled fantasies for the past three minutes.

But soon enough Jennifer sat up straight, turning her head only slightly, trying to convey an air of nonchalance, giving a slight hmm in the affirmative of Emily's query.

To her credit, JJ did pull off indifference, enough so that Emily didn't look too closely at the other woman and assumed the sound she'd heard previously was simply because of some unsavory occurrence she was yet aware of. "Everything okay," she called, proud her voice only quavered slightly. "I heard... _something_ ," Emily continued, not quite wanting to acknowledge the tension in the air, the heat just under her skin, the pounding of her heart.

"Hmmm?" JJ offered again. "Oh! Yeah, yeah everything's fine. I just got a message from Will. The boys were beat so there's no phone call tonight." When, JJ wondered, had it become second nature for her to cover her feelings and compartmentalize everything, the exact same way she always chastised Emily for? Groaning again, she fell face first into the couch cushions only this time for an entirely different reason. It was odd that she'd lent herself to these childish behaviors, though she didn't have time to ruminate on that fact.

Emily, of course, ever observant especially concerning all things Jennifer was quick to notice the slight dulling of JJ's eyes, the tightening of her jaw when her mask slid back into place, effectively trying to block out Emily who immediately recognized the slamming of the lid onto an emotional compartment. They were edging closer to uncharted territory and Jennifer was clinging to her control like a life raft, both adrift at sea. The only difference was, Emily, after having spent years drifting alone, had learned it was better to relinquish that careful control in the face of drowning.

Heedless of her current state, Emily moved to the front of her couch, and leaned down to assess an adorably bedraggled JJ who was muttering something under her breath.

JJ, for her part, was doing her best to ignore Emily, hoping that if she didn't acknowledge her, she would simply leave her be. It wasn't that she didn't trust Emily, per se, so much as she felt she'd already hit her limit for the day and adding any emotional complication would send her over the brink.

But she could feel the warmth radiating from the other woman and knew her options of escape were limited. Cracking open her eye, she wasn't met with the face of Emily Prentiss, but rather, her endless legs. JJ thanked every deity she could think of that Emily's towel, while edging closer still to impropriety, covered enough to allow her imagination to run free.

And boy did it run.

She could feel her face burning and heart began pounding again. Squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head slightly, JJ returned to muttering into the cushions of the couch.

That damned couch knew more of her secrets than she'd care to admit.

Running her fingers through incredibly soft hair, Emily managed to coax JJ to turn head again and met her at eye level.

"I don't know what's going on," she started, "but you're always welcome to talk to me instead of just my couch." Emily considered herself successful when JJ's shoulders shook with laughter and a shy smile plastered itself to her face.

JJ reached up to grab Emily's hand that was still resting on her cheek, turning to place a gentle kiss on its palm. "I should have known better than to try and fool Emily Prentiss, compartmentalizer extraordinaire," JJ chided, with no small amount of self deprecation, and, she noted guiltily, satisfaction at having partially succeeded in fooling her boss. "I'm guessing by your state of undress you can't decide what to wear?"

Emily, for her part ignored the implications of Jennifer's statement and chose to tease the younger woman instead. "What an astute observation, Agent Jareau! That must be why you're a profiler."

The blonde chuckled and pulled Emily from the floor, feeling remarkably better now that their air of easy banter had returned.

"Yeah, that's why. Come on Prentiss, let's get that ass of yours into something sexy. I know you're just dying to break some hearts tonight."

Hand in hand, they made their way to Emily's bedroom, JJ snagging the scotch on the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been a fan of the JJ cheating on Will trope, or Emily being okay with being the other woman.
> 
> I don't think these two are oblivious to each other. I mean fuck, look at how Paget and AJ play them.
> 
> But I do believe that they're too worried to cross a boundary and keep missing each other. And then there's a Will, and a Henry. So...
> 
> Also, my writing style seems to change daily, if I'm having a good day, if I have a lot of homework, if I forgot to take my pills, if a butterfly flaps its wings and it rains in central park...
> 
> I'm sorry if that gives you whiplash. It gives me whiplash.
> 
> If you read my ramblings and think "damn dani, I like your shit but I'd love to see this," or "you can't spell and your grammar sucks," I'm in need of a beta.
> 
> All writing, mistakes and all, is mine (and galaxy 9's, thank you autocorrect, you mother forklift), so hit me up!
> 
> As always, cheers!


End file.
